Friday, February 19, 2010

What type of Polyurethane should I use to clear coat a bar top?

I've built a bar for the game room and I am about to clear coat the top. It is a stained wooden top and I am wondering what to use to clear coat it. I would like to make it look like a bar top at a restaurant but the epoxy way is too expensive. I've used Minwax polyurethane on a table I have. Should I just do like 7 coats of Minwax or is there a better way to do it? Preferably something I can get from home depot.What type of Polyurethane should I use to clear coat a bar top?I like the spar urethane - but still takes several coats, and is what I used on my oak butcherblock counter top. I used 4 coats, three years ago, they are still like new.What type of Polyurethane should I use to clear coat a bar top?Ok, what I have found that works super good is Min Wax Helmsmen spar urethane. This stuff is used on boats,water skis etc. Just do the FIRST coat with a 60/40 mix, of 60% urethane and 40% thinner. This will seal the wood and make the next coat go even and smooth. Just lightly sand ,after the first coat with a 300 or 400 wet or dry sand paper and use it dry. Sand just enough to get any dust particles off of the finish. Now you can do a 50/50 mix or just go with straight urethane. Just sand the rest of the coats with either 400 or 600 wet or dry and use it dry. That is up to you. Depends on the dust particles that will get on the finish while it is drying. Remember to keep the sand paper clean and wipe the surface after you sand over it the first time and every time after. This seems like a lot of work ,because the urethane has to dry, but in the end it will look awesome. For a bar top 3 maybe 4 coats should do it. Then when you reach the look you want,wax the top with min wax finishing wax, and do this every once in a while after using the bar. Good luck,it will look great.I agree with ';livnthe'; - spar urethane is waterproof. It is also referred to as marine varnish or marine poly/urethane and it is used in marine (boating) applications. It's best to use a waterproof clear coat because the bar top will likely have lots of water on it...from spills, water rings on glasses and mugs, from wiping cloths, etc. Regular polyurethane is water resistant but it will not hold up to the kind of regular soakings that a typical bar top will encounter. Apply multiple coats, 3 or 4 initially, for best protection and re-apply regularly...at least once a year.your way is fine.

Recommend gloss or high gloss oil-base poly. Yeah- plenty coats...until you get sick of it.

Dont entertain the idea of less than Gloss. Further oil is more durable - so that combo will get you closest to the bar look without doing a 1/4'; of resin and all that.You can oil poly the finish, to achieve a resin look that equates to as many as 50 coats. The epoxy purpose is mainly to embed coins %26amp; not feel them. 4 -5 coats is more than enough.valspar marine polyurethane will do the trick